Introspection

The Art of Figuring Out the I Within You

How do you want to feel at the end of a day, the end of a year, and the end of a lifetime?

Yes, really! How do you want to feel when at the end of a lifetime?

Imagine this – there you are, reflecting upon your life, recalling everything that you have gained and lost, your greatest challenges, your happiest moments, and all those exciting times.

What you are doing, is filling a golden bucket that exists within the beautiful space that is your head, with memories of experiences and how you felt during each memory. Once you are done, you take a deep breath and relax at having lived a fulfilling life. This breath is called the breath of peace, and it is the greatest feeling to end a lifetime with.

Now, turn away from this peaceful moment and look backward. Imagine living the life that would have given you all this peace. As you travel back in time, you will eventually reach your right now moment – the present.

Here, in the present, compare who you are right now with who you want to be at the end of a lifetime.

Are the things that you are doing now leading you towards this path of peace?

Can you become who you want to be at the end of a lifetime by continuing to do what you are doing now?

So, what’s blocking my path towards peace?

If there is anything that is blocking your route towards inner peace, you will realize that it is only your own ideas and opinions that are stopping you. Stopping you from getting your priorities straight.

When I tried imagining the end of my lifetime, I realized that I would never be at peace without seeing at least one of my books on that best seller list, freaking out my son hard enough into growing up the healthy way, nagging my husband into good health, and spending quality time with family and friends. These are all the things that I want for myself and my family and these are also my priorities. And the memories of these experiences are what will fill up my golden bucket.

The idea behind the view from the end of a lifetime is to understand life for what it is – it is a feeling, an emotion.

The idea is to imagine a happy family over a large house. When we do this, we will grow to realize that as long as the family is happy, any house would do. And all this happens simply because, death, even the thought of it, is such a humbling experience where we become a sum of nothing.

And now that we have had death as an eye-opener to introspection, let us move on to the next part…

We arrive at the world wide epidemic of chasing attention

As I introspect my life and my attitude towards myself, I have been struck by the startling revelation that more often than not, most of the things that I have been doing and wanting have centered around seeking attention from the outside world.

And when I introspected the world around me, I realized that almost everyone else was a Me!

We are all seeking attention from others while at the same time giving a giant chunk of our attention to other people and other stuff, and in more ways than ever before!

The question is not about how much attention the world pays to us or vice-versa.

The real question is how much attention do we pay to ourselves?!

How much attention do we pay to our over-abused organs as we gorge yet again on that preservative-fueled junk food? Do we pay attention to our under-used legs as we plop ourselves onto the couch, after we have propped ourselves up on a chair in the office throughout the day? How much attention do we pay to our over-worked brain as we spend sleepless nights in the office, in front of the TV, or at a party? Do we pay attention to those poor victims that are our eyes as we shift constantly from the laptop to the smart phone?

Think about it, are we getting healthier to feel healthy, or for the rest of the world to pay attention to our health?! What is it exactly that we want to do with our lives?!

What is it that we have lost sight of as we are gaining more insights into the external world? We have lost sight of our health, our passion and our values. We have lost sight of our future. And we have lost sight of our soul.

This is the second case for introspection – to look for answers from within

Go ahead and peel that bloody onion. When you do it, you will realize that all that you have left with is, yourself. Remember, the biggest motivation to get up and moving is that first sign of pain around the joints – a call from within.

And how do I go about peeling that bloody onion?

Use the blessing of time and space to make this happen.

We need time and space to figure ourselves out – to work out who we are, what we want to do, what we can do, and what we cannot do.

We need time and space to be us – not that person who is working our arse off, not that mother or father attending to our child’s every need, not that friend who has to constantly chatter and roam around, not that child who has to shift from one activity to another, not that soul who wants to be someone or want something constantly, not that…anybody…

We need time and space to be ourselves, and be with ourselves. For at the end of a lifetime, we are all faced with the very same, one common situation – Death – a situation where no one accompanies us, a situation when it is time to become our own best company.

To get in touch with ourselves – to get into introspection mode – is to make connection with our best friend. Us.

So, how do we become our very own best friend?

To figure ourselves out, we have to have a nice chat with…us. It is as simple as sitting down for a cup of coffee in the presence of good company, the good company being you. Except, the whole scene is happening inside your head – the best space that you can ever be within.

If you find the idea a challenge, try imagining a cup of hot, piping coffee. You will notice that you will be able to see, smell, and feel the cuppa – all in your mind’s eye. If it is not that hard to imagine a cup of coffee, how hard do you think it will be to imagine enjoying a conversation with good old you?!

Here’s to some of the most amazing conversations with You! Here’s to Being You!

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Introspect Life

We are constantly searching for things that would lend better meaning to our lives. It could be wealth, health or attitude – all of which can be achieved if we are able to understand things from a different perspective. This blog is about learning to achieve that perspective shift through the journey of self-introspection. My articles and stories are aimed at helping both you and I enter and stay in that zone.

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